Last Friday our tutor, James Donald, organised a college outing for us to visit the Nuno Textiles exhibition at the Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh. One of our projects with James is 'Textiles for Commission' and our brief is to make a scarf for the Japanese Nuno Textiles Corporation. The company is real, the brief is fictitious ..... although we do have to make it!

By an amazing bit of serendipity Reiko Sudo, Artistic Director of Nuno, brought a collection of textiles to Edinburgh for exhibition at the Dovecot, which was a perfect space to house this wonderful collection. We started this module in September and finish in December so the timing of the exhibition was perfect.

Around 40 wonderful textiles were on display. Around the sides were small 'feeling' samples along with details of how each was made. This was such a bonus, as anyone who likes fabrics knows, we just have to touch and feel them! The constructions and techniques are incredibly innovative and it's well worth having a look at the Nuno website to find out more.

Pleated weave: a patented 'origami pleat' emulated in woven folds

Tsugihagi: small swatches and remnants recycled into an embroidered patchwork, no two are ever the same

Basho: Okinawan banana fibre weaving

This was a fantastic opportunity to see these fabrics 'for real' as my research was all on paper and photographs from their website. And now they are truly brought to life, absolutely stunning and so inspiring!